


Tenacity

by WyldMagic



Category: Wandersong (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, rated T for a couple swears & blood/fighting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-31
Updated: 2019-01-31
Packaged: 2019-10-19 18:23:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,416
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17606552
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WyldMagic/pseuds/WyldMagic
Summary: Nightmares are not supposed to live in daylight.[variant on the Nightmare King battle feat. actual fighting]





	Tenacity

**Author's Note:**

> Bard is Bard (they/them)

     Nightmares are not supposed to live in daylight. Nightmares are supposed to stay buried in perpetual subconscious, condemned to stay locked deep beneath your brain. Nightmares are dreams and nothing more.

     This wasn’t a dream.

     Bard tripped and landed hard on their knees as another tremor shook the ground. They threw a hand up to cover their eyes as bursts of vibrant pink light shot across their vision from stars literally falling from the heavens. It was over. All of this, all of their hard work with Miriam gaining parts of the Earthsong, and they couldn’t even save the Dream King when he needed them. The nightmare beast behind them had thrown everything it had against the Hero, Audrey Redheart, but too many brutal slashes and lightning bolts had rendered him a sunken shell clinging desperately to a damned life. His breath came in labored gasps. His eyes were crescent moon slits.

     Bard had tried, and tried, and _tried_ , and it wasn’t enough.

     “Why don’t you get off your broom and fight me _properly?_ ” Audrey yelled above her. She’d been pushed to the other side of the castle’s flat roof by Bard’s music and Miriam’s spells, not enough to cast her off the side, but well out of reach of the King. That sword shone malice in every burst of light caught across its blade.

     Miriam floated twenty feet above her, blue hair billowing in the wind, charging magic in her fist. Audrey swiped at her with her sword, but Miriam easily swooped out of reach.

     “Nice try, idiot,” she yelled back to Audrey, “but I’m not getting anywhere near you and your stupid sword! Why don’t you come up here and get me, huh?”

     She stuck her tongue out at Audrey and yanked her broom higher, coasting on an air current. Behind her, the sky churned black and violent.

     The Dream King heaved another raspy breath. Bard turned back and coaxed them with a pained suite of notes, helping a multicolor vine burst from the ground beside them.

_Just a bit more,_ Bard thought, urging it along with their voice. Audrey had her back to them, swiping at Miriam like a cat swatting a feather.

     The King sighed. The vine wilted.

     Bard took a deep breath, wincing as pain shot through their ribs. Audrey had landed more than a few rough kicks against their chest before Miriam dove in to distract her. It was dangerous, but Miriam was keeping Audrey occupied. As long as the Hero was distracted, she couldn’t kill the King.

_I can deal with bruises tomorrow,_ Bard thought as they grit their teeth.

_If there_ is _a tomorrow,_ said their ugly thoughts. _The world is ending, remember?_

_We can still save it._

_Did you forget the eclipse? The spirit world’s collapse? Where are you, right now—floating in space, tethered by your best friend and a dying Overseer, and all you have is your voice and the broken pieces of a silly song Eyala told you won’t work! You can’t save them! You can’t save_ anyone _!_

     Bard clutched the sides of their head, eyes screwed shut.

     “We’ll fix it!” they said, straining to get the words out between their teeth. “It’ll be okay, it’ll be okay—”

     A shout brought their attention across the roof. Miriam had flown too carelessly and earned herself a bright red cut across the shin; grimacing, she fired a volley of hexbolts at Audrey, tearing at the Hero’s clothes and searing her skin.

     “Miriam!” Bard shouted. “Be careful!”

     “I’ve got it!” Miriam replied.

     She pulled back hard on the broom; splinters cracked off the shaft as Audrey nicked it with her sword. Miriam was tough as iron and could out-maneuver swallows on her broom, but Audrey had struck her down before.

     Eya knows she could do it again.

     Miriam sent another hexbolt at Audrey’s feet and dove, arm outstretched to grab the sword hilt. Lightning crackled off the blade. For a moment, Audrey’s scarf blew across her face and blinded her.

     Bard felt the universe slow down.

     Miriam grasped the pommel. Audrey shook her head clear. Lightning surged, Audrey kneed Miriam hard in the stomach, and with a thunderous bang Miriam was lying unconscious face-first against the ground.

     Patches of her fuschia capelet were singed and smoldering. Blood seeped from her leg in a dark red stain. She lay so still Bard couldn’t tell if she was even breathing.

     “Miriam!” they shouted, voice breaking.

     Instinctively, they sprinted to reach her, but a falling star struck the ground in front of them and sent them teetering unceremoniously on their back. Bard groaned and scrambled to their feet, half-blind by the stars still falling around them.

_Your fault,_ said the ugly thoughts. _Your fault, your fault, your fault—_

     Bard staggered forward, nearly walking into another exploding star. Bits of star-matter stung as they cut Bard’s cheeks and ripped the sleeves of their blouse. They tried to sing a note to clear the way, but their throat was tight, their heart strangling them from within.

     The Dream King let out a low, croaky whine. His ghastly form withered into smoke with each passing second. As the last of the starstorm faded, Bard finally had an opening to reach Miriam, but a dark shape fringed by electric light was in their way.

     Audrey Redheart strode toward them.

     “I can’t believe you’re still trying to stop me,” she said casually, sword loose in her hand. “I told you to quit, what, half a dozen times? And you and your annoying little friend kept getting in my way time and time again. Do you know how _frustrating_ that is?”

     Electricity shot from the ground as she struck it with her sword. Bard took an involuntary step back.

     “Please, Audrey,” they said, “you don’t have to do this. We can work it out a different way—you don’t need to kill him, please, Audrey…”

     They licked their lips nervously, their mouth dry, their heart a fearful drum in their tight chest. Their eyes darted between Audrey and Miriam. Tears threatened to overcome them.

_Stop lying to yourself,_ said the ugly part of their thoughts. _It’s over. You’ve failed._

     Audrey shook her head, a smirk on her lips. “Eya, you’re something else. Don’t you get it? Your stupid song won’t work—you _failed_ ,” she echoed, “and it’s my job to finish my own damn quest. Now get out of my way.”

     The ground shuddered. Bard stumbled, hand against their ribcage. Bruises and cuts. Rising panic. The broken Earthsong. They couldn’t breathe.

     “I’ll let you go to your witchy friend if you step aside,” Audrey said. “I don’t think she got the full blast, but there was an _awful_ lot of lightning stored in this thing.”

     She tapped the blade against the ground, sending sparks up to emphasize her point. The harsh light reflected off her dark, pitiless eyes and the cold conviction in her heart.

     Bard stammered wordlessly, torn between defending the King and their best friend’s side, when suddenly another tremor sent a suite of stars careening down over them.

     Audrey snarled and leapt out of the way. She narrowed her eyes at Bard, giving them one last chance to step aside, but Bard seized the moment and sang a triad of notes as strongly as they could manage, sending the stars streaming towards Audrey.

     They shattered in a blur of sparks.

     Through the broken pieces, Audrey’s face was lit with harsh shadows as bits of star-matter cut across her cheeks. The ground shuddered. The King rasped another shaky breath. Behind the Hero, Miriam pushed herself to her knees.

     Audrey stood still, scarf billowing in the breeze, sword hung low at her side. She wiped a smear of blood off her face with her other hand. When she spoke, every syllable was drenched with contempt.

     “…You know,” she said, “I’m starting to _regret_ not killing you sooner.”

     She leapt forward with preternatural speed and slashed at Bard—her sword rang as it struck the spectral shield they sang to block her. Audrey scowled.

_It’s not enough,_ said Bard’s head.

     They sang another shield to block the blade. Dissonance rang through the air.

_It will never be enough._

     Miriam swayed on her feet half a world away, leaning heavily on her broomstick. Bard’s shoulders slumped in relief.

     Pain snapped them to attention.

     Audrey hefted her sword over her shoulder, ready to strike again—Bard belatedly pressed a hand to their chest, where a blood seeped through their blouse and across their capelet.

     “Audrey, wait!” they said.

     Audrey grit her teeth and swung down, clipping Bard on the shoulder. They cried out, dancing backward to avoid another terrible swing.

     “Audrey!”

     Bard barely sung a shielding note in time. Audrey’s sword bounced off the bubble as chalk scrapes off slate; Bard broke off their note with a dry cough, struggling to keep their voice clear. Panic gripped them like a vice. They opened their mouth to sing.

     Audrey grit her teeth and closed the tight distance between them. She punctuated every dark word with a vicious swipe:

     “Stop with your _Eya—”_

     Slash.

     “Damned—”

     Trip.

     “ _Singing!”_

     Bard had landed hard on their side, clutching their shoulder, palm sticky with blood. Audrey hefted the sword above her head.

     “Hey!” shouted a voice.

     Audrey faltered.

     Miriam’s broom thwacked her on the side of the head with an audible crack, sending her rolling several feet away. Miriam whirled around and planted her feet in an open stance before Bard, broom brandished brush-first before her.

     “Don’t you _dare_ hurt them!” she treatened.

     Her knees shook, her arms trembled, and she kept her weight off her injured leg, but her voice was firm as thunder. Against the black void she shone like her own constellation.

_She’s amazing,_ Bard thought.

     “Are you okay?” Miriam said, risking a glance over her shoulder at Bard. “I mean, obviously not, but you’re not about to bleed out on me, right?”

     Bard shook their head, hiding a pained expression behind a smile.

     “I’m better now that you’re here,” they said.

     “That’s so cheesy,” Miriam snorted.

     “But it’s true!”

     Bard winced, pressing their hand to their bloody shoulder.

     Miriam frowned. “As soon as we fix this Hero Situation, I’m taking you to Sapphy’s to rest.”

     Bard nodded; arguing with Miriam about who needed rest more was a surefire way to waste half an hour without changing either opinion.

     Miriam was about to say more, but another voice cut through, more growl than proper speech.

     “You…”

     Audrey pushed herself to her knees, blood running from her nose. Miriam leveled her broom at her, hair billowing like a lion’s mane, white-hot magic crackling from her knuckles. Audrey spat on the ground.

     “You… _losers!_ ” she exclaimed. “You’ve ruined everything!”

     She leapt for Miriam, sword flashing, just as Bard sang a shielding note to keep them both safe. Audrey scowled. She backed up, leveling her sword at the two of them.

     “This is _my_ quest!” she shouted, her voice hoarse. “This is _my_ story! How dare you try and take that for yourself!”

     She leapt again with a reckless swipe at Bard only to get the blunt end of Miriam’s broomstick against her temple. Miriam smacked her twice more upside the head before Bard grabbed her elbow and yanked her back.

     Reeling, Audrey staggered, hand against her forehead.

     “This isn’t… this isn’t how it’s supposed to be,” she said. Her grip loosened.

     The Hero’s sword clanged to the ground.

     Miriam dropped her broom and snatched the sword out of Audrey’s way. Hobbling back to Bard’s side, she dug the blade into the ground and leaned on it to keep her weight off her injured leg.

     Audrey had sunk to her knees, staring listlessly at the feeble Dream King. Her yellow scarf hung limp over her shoulders.

_Leave her,_ said Bard’s ugly thoughts.

_Save her,_ said their heart.

     Bard adjusted their tricorner hat, ignoring the dents it had gotten from the fight. They took a deep breath through their nose, letting it out slowly along with the anxiety running rampant through their veins.

     They stepped forward.

     “Audrey?” they said softly.

     “Bard, don’t,” Miriam warned. “She’s not safe.”

     “I have to try.”

     Miriam winced and tightened her awkward grip on the sword. Bard knelt before Audrey, folding their feet underneath them like a parent come to comfort their weeping child. Carefully, they laid a hand on Audrey’s shoulder.

     “Audrey,” they said, “I know things seem… well, really difficult right now…”

     “That’s an understatement,” Miriam muttered. Bard spared her a pleading glance before turning back to Audrey.

     “But… you’re special!” they said. “Even if you weren’t the Hero, I mean.”

     Audrey coughed what sounded like a laugh.

     “No shit,” she said. “Why do you think Eya chose me in the first place?”

     “Because you’re great at everything you do,” Bard said, taking her question literally. “You helped all those people when monsters were attacking, you defeated all those giants outside the temple…well, you did a lot of violent things, to be honest. But being the Hero is just a title—you don’t have to go through with this fight. I can still learn the Earthsong from the Dream King, and we can _actually_ save the world!”

     Audrey said nothing. She pointedly avoided looking Bard in the eye.

     “You… you might not be _the_ Hero,” Bard tried, “but you’d still be _a_ hero. Does that make sense? You can do whatever you want with your life, no matter what people expect from you. You have the power to make your own decisions, Audrey. Not me, not Miriam, not Eyala or even Eya Herself. You do. Don’t you want to make the right choice?”

     They smiled hopefully, waiting for Audrey to acknowledge she’d even heard them. After a few seconds, she opened her mouth to speak, and leaned close enough to brush Bard’s cheek with her own. Her breath was hot against their ear.

     “It’s not enough,” she whispered as she punched them in the gut.

     Bard hit the ground, winded and wounded, struggling for breath as stars burst in their vision. The world was a haze. In a blur Audrey kicked Miriam’s legs out from under her.

     She took the sword.

     Bard’s vision cleared long enough for them to hold Miriam’s frightened gaze in their own; for a moment, only the two of them existed, united in terror and the finality of their last mistake.

     Lightning struck the King.

     White noise seared the sky.

     Empty void.

     Silence.

**Author's Note:**

> did I just want to have Miriam smack Audrey with her broom? perhaps.
> 
> shielding note idea from the King of Hearts fight at Ichor Mtn. like with my other WS fic, this was intended as a loose novelization so the dialogue isn't 100% accurate.
> 
> thanks for reading, hope u enjoyed it


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